Bar Admissions
Massachusetts (2007)

Education
Suffolk University Law School, J.D. (2007)
Vanderbilt University, B.A. (2001)

Background

• Todd & Weld LLP, 2008-August 2016

• Judicial Law Clerk, Massachusetts Probate and Family Court, 2007-2008

Professional Activities

• Assistant Judicial Case Manager Transitional Working Group, 2019

• American Bar Association, member

• Greater Boston Family Law American Inn of Court, member and:

  • President (2016-2018)

  • Founding Secretary (2013-2015)

• Boston Bar Association, former member and:

  • Family Law Section Steering Committee (2016-2023)

  • co-chair of the Family Law Steering Committee’s Legislative Committee (2020 to 2021)

  • co-chair of the Family Law Brown Bag Section, 2018-2019, member 2021 to 2023

  • Diversity & Inclusion Council Steering Committee member (2013-2015)

• Essex County Bar Association, member

• Massachusetts Bar Association, member

• Massachusetts Council on Family Mediation, member (2018-present)

• Middlesex Bar Association, member

• National Conference of Bar Presidents Member (2014-2015)

• Massachusetts Chapter, American Academy for Certified Financial Litigators, founding member (2015)

• National Academy of Family Law Attorneys (since 2018)

• Greater Newburyport Bar Association, member

Relevant Press & Notable Mentions

• In a first, de facto parent granted shared custody

• We Are Family: Partanen v. Gallagher Applies 209C to Protect Children of Never Married LGBTQ Families

• Mass. Court Grants Full Parental Rights to Unmarried Gay Woman

• Parental rights case before SJC highlights modern family life

• MA SJC Establishes Parental Rights for Non-Marital Parents

• GLAD Briefts, Winter 2012, "Improving Advocacy for Transgender Clients"

Elizabeth A. Roberts

Elizabeth Roberts concentrates her practice on domestic relations law. She assists clients in a wide range of family law matters, including divorce, child custody, grandparent visitation, paternity, parentage, de facto parent issues, cohabitation agreements, prenuptials, postnuptials, adoptions, removal cases, and unmarried partners. Elizabeth also counsels clients in a probate law litigation matters, including guardianships, conservatorships, will contests, and trust and estate disputes.   Elizabeth was previously associated with Todd & Weld LLP, a preeminent Boston litigation firm, where her practice focused exclusively on domestic relations and probate matters.  Prior to joining a private practice, Elizabeth was a judicial law clerk with the Massachusetts Probate & Family Court.

Elizabeth directly negotiates on behalf of clients to settle cases, as well as guides them through attorney-assisted alternative dispute resolution. While most cases in the Probate & Family Court settle, Elizabeth is a skilled litigator who is able to take a case from start to finish.  For example, as trial counsel she persuaded a Massachusetts Probate and Family Court judge to award joint legal and physical custody of children to a same-sex, non-biological parent, in a case believed to be the first of its kind in Massachusetts. In a related case, Partanen v. Gallagher, Elizabeth collaborated with GLAD on an appeal to the Supreme Judicial Court which, in a case of first impression, determined that an unmarried, non-biological partner must be granted the status of a legal parent. Elizabeth also mediates and conciliates all types of domestic relations matters, assisting couples and families in privately resolving their disputes, as well as is privately retained to serve as a private parent coordinator and parent mediator.  Elizabeth is regularly appointed by the Court to serve as an attorney representing children and special master.

Awards / Achievements

• Recognized The Best Lawyers® in America in 2024 for work in Family Law and Family Law Mediation.

• Boston Magazine, named top lawyer (2021)

• Selected for inclusion in Top Women of the Law by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, 2017

• Massachusetts Bar Association Community Service Award, 2017

• Selected by her peers for inclusion in the 24th Edition of The Best Lawyers in America© for her work in Family Law.

• Named by Super Lawyers as a Massachusetts “Rising Star” (2011-2018), and Super Lawyer (2019-2021)

• Named one of Best Lawyers (2019-2023)

• Top 40 Lawyers Under 40, awarded by the National LGBT Bar Association

• National Academy of Family Law Attorneys, Top 10 Lawyers Under 40 in Massachusetts (2018-2021)

Publications / Lectures

• Moderator of Panel, Intersection of College Costs & Child Support, BBA Family Law Section, December 5, 2018

• Author, “PRESUMED PARENTS – The Born To and Holding Out Requirements of G.L. c. 209C,” Winter 2017.

• Panelist, MCLE “Attacking and Defending Marital Agreements,” 2016 and 2017; co-author of publication accompanying seminar

• Guest Lecturer, Family Law, New England School of Law, January 2016

• Panelist, MCLE, “30 Questions & 30 Answers: Solving Your Most Common Family Law Problems,” July 2015

• Panelist, BBA Summer Associates Diversity & Inclusion Panel July 2014

• Panelist, MCLE “Practicing With Professionalism,” March 2014

• Panelist, BBA Seminar on Divorce Law Fundamentals: Rule 401 Financial Statements, November 2013

• Panelist, GLAD/Massachusetts LGBTQ Bar Association, Representing Transgender Clients in a Family Law Setting , May 2011

• Author, Removal in Massachusetts: The Silent Statute, 25 Mass. Fam. L.J. 19 2007

Civic & Charitable Involvement

• Girl Scouts, co-leader 2019-present.

• Volunteer, Conciliation Initiative through the Inns of Court (Essex, Middlesex & Norfolk Counties)

• Volunteer, Norfolk Probate & Family Court Lawyer For A Day

• Volunteer, Attorneys Representing Children Norfolk & Middlesex Counties Probate & Family Courts

• Volunteer, Middlesex Bar Association, Court Conciliation Program